Hundreds of thousands without water after US chemical spill

Residents line up for water at a water filling station at West Virginia State University in West Virginia, on Jan 10, 2014. Hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia have been left without water after a chemical leak into a key river, officials said on Friday. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia, United States (US), have been left without water after a chemical leak into a key river, officials said on Friday.

West Virginia American Water said it had ordered residents across a wide region not to use water after chemicals from a plant were pumped into the Elk River.

"Do not use the water," the firm said, in an advisory to customers. "Due to the nature of the contamination, the water should not be used for any purpose other than toilet flushing and firefighting."

According to the Charleston Daily Mail local newspaper, some 300,000 people were affected by the restrictions.